Brockley is to Peckham as Clapton is to Dalston. Achingly cool salon Blue Tit is opening on Brockley Road, taking over the slot previously occupied by the much-praised, seldom-frequented Bird of Paradise restaurant (258 Brockley Road).

Blue Tit Peckham

Blue Tit Dalston

Blue Tit opens on March 5th and, based on the look of their salons in Dalston, Peckham and Clapton, the company must have done some major work on the former restaurant. The Brockley branch will be "70s inspired and is headed up by stylist Bradley Stratton."

When one of the unloveliest stretches of Brockley Road gets the Blue Tit treatment, we can be sure that the area's development has entered a new phase.

Another hair salon in the Brockley area! As if there's not enough choices already! Whilst it will smarten the area and, a few more bar / cafes wouldn't go amiss. Whatever happened to the vacant site opposite Jam Circus that was supposed to be opening as a coffee shop?

I never wrote that there is a Harrods in Dalston for start. Why we should Look to East london for brockley seems ridiculous to me. we should get better shops yes. Brockley were a few years ago seemed much more egalatarian is now becoming more and more a divided society and the gap between those who have and those who have not far wider. for me that is not so great, it was calmer cooler and also more affodable.

"Why we should Look to East london for brockley seems ridiculous to me."

Of course it was a little tongue in cheek, but we should acknowledge the parallels, rather than imagine Brockley as some little island, divorced from the wider trends shaping London. It's simply a fact that they have chosen those four locations - why do you think that is?

"Brockley were a few years ago seemed much more egalatarian"

I'm not sure what that actually means? It seemed to be a place of the very poor and some people who were by definition very wealthy due to the homes they owned here. If anything, the trend over the last few years has been for the middling sort - young professionals with decent salaries and prospects but relatively little wealth - that have flooded in to the area. Does that make it more or less egalitarian?

"is now becoming more and more a divided society and the gap between those who have and those who have not far wider."

I'd be interested in any sort of evidence that says local society itself is more divided. Brockley used to have a pub that was divided along racial lines. It used to be a place where the middle classes hid in their large houses rather than visit their local high street. Those things have changed for the better.

"it was calmer cooler and also more affodable."

Calmer? If you ignore the gang violence. Cooler? A matter of opinion which is cooler, The Gantry or its Toads Mouth predecessor. More affordable - undeniably. But that's because of wider London trends, which brings us back to exactly why it's helpful to draw comparisons with other parts of London.